"Well, what did you think of him?" Roman asked, holding Virgil's hand as they walked back from his first session with Emile. They had talked quite a bit about Virgil's nightmare, and how it might have reflected Virgil's mental state.
"I like him I guess," Virgil answered honestly. "He's like Patton."
"So you think he'll be a good therapist for you?"
"I think so. I hope so." That was good, it's what Roman wanted. Since Emile is a lot like Patton, he'll seem safe to Virgil. That was the most important thing to Roman, was that Virgil felt safe.
"I do too, I'm glad you're okay with this."
"He gave a lot of helpful advice. Different grounding techniques and coping mechanisms."
Roman smiled at Virgil, though he was worried. The borrower seemed quiet ever since they left, vulnerable. He opened up a lot, and it seemed to leave him feeling tired or worn out. The prince just wanted to take him home so he could rest.
"Hey Roman, when did you say you're shadowing the king?" Virgil asked.
"Oh, tomorrow," the prince answered. The question threw him off for a moment, he wondered what made Virgil ask. "Why?"
"I want to start training again as soon as possible to protect you. Tomorrow if you're with the king, you'll be surrounded by guards and it'll make my job easier. So I was hoping to spar with your brother today."
"So soon? Are you sure?" The prince really wanted to make sure Virgil rested. He was afraid that the borrower would push himself too far.
Virgil squeezed Roman's hand. "The sooner the better. I don't want to be caught unprepared again. I have a feeling I won't win any fights today, so I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow."
"In that case, do you want tomorrow off?"
"I guess tomorrow would be safest for me to do that. That way I can train more tomorrow."
"Shouldn't you, I don't know, rest?"
"I'll make sure to give myself plenty of time to do that."
Roman made a mental note to make sure someone is with Virgil all day tomorrow to make sure he'll be okay. "Alright, let's go find my brother then."
~~~
"Okay," Remus said, cracking his knuckles. "You ready?"
Virgil nodded, standing in a fighting stance. He held his knife in a tight grip, but made sure to keep his wrist loose. He didn't want to fight with anything else since he only carries a knife on him, and he wanted it to be as realistic as possible.
Roman watched nervously, standing next to the other three. The prince held a hand in front of his mouth, his other arm hugging himself. Patton stood on standby to help Roman in case anyone got hurt. Janus leaned against a root that popped out of the ground, Logan standing next to him eager to watch the fight.
Janus raised a hand. He dropped it as he said, "Fight."
Roots tore from the ground on both sides of Virgil as Remus raised his arms. To avoid the attack, Virgil sprinted forward, racing towards the prince.
"Who do you think will win?" Logan asked Janus.
"It's hard to tell," Janus hummed, watching another root pop out of the ground in front of Remus as Virgil tried to slash him. "Remus is allowed to use his magic, and Virgil doesn't have any, plus he was encouraged to not hold back. Virgil isn't holding back either, he's truly fighting to win, however I'm afraid that the traumatic events he went through will impact how he fights."
"How so?"
"Just watch, hopefully I'm wrong but if I'm not then you'll see it."
Roman bit down on one of his knuckles when Remus managed to hit Virgil with a root, hard enough to send him rolling. The borrower got up, staying low as he sprinted back at Remus.
Virgil jumped over a root like it was a hurdle as the prince tried the same trick. Remus made several roots shoot out like a wall of dulled down spikes, aiming to just push him back. Virgil slashed at the ones in front of him, grabbing a piece that had broken off, and jumped through an opening.
Remus started to fly into the air to avoid Virgil, raising some roots with him to prepare an attack. The borrower took advantage of this and jumped on one of the roots, throwing the piece he had in his hand.
The prince avoided the attack, though he made the mistake of keeping his eyes on the root piece Virgil had thrown. Virgil jumped into the air and grabbed Remus by his leg, making him drop back to the ground with a shout.
The borrower let go of Remus as they reached the ground, and the prince stumbled back before tripping onto his butt. He gasped as Virgil lunged towards him, putting his hands out as roots shot from the ground.
Virgil froze as the roots shot out at him, his eyes going wide as his breath left him. It felt like time had slowed down, but he couldn't find the strength to move. He had to move, he had to dodge or cut through the roots, he had to do something!
But in the blink of an eye, he found himself being wrapped up by roots. It felt like his throat closed up on him, and suddenly every cell in his body was itching to get away. The only thing on his mind was getting away from Ignis.
"No!" he shouted, struggling to break free.
Remus paled as he realized his mistake, watching Virgil instantly squirm and panic. He moved his hands and the roots let go of the borrower, who dropped to the ground unprepared to catch himself.
Roman and Patton rushed to his side as Virgil started to take deep breaths to calm himself. It was clear how hard he was trembling and there was no hiding the way how hard he gripped his arm.
"Are you okay?" Roman asked, helping him stand up. He used his magic to figure out where Virgil was hurt, finding himself wishing that he could heal mental pain.
"I'm-I'm fine," Virgil forced out, doing his best to focus on how his pain started to eb away. He needed to focus on something other than the fear.
Remus raised and lowered his arms, letting all of the roots settle back into the ground. "I am so sorry," he said. "I wasn't thinking, I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."
"No, no you should have," Virgil cut in. "Ignis would have. I froze up, that was my mistake, not yours."
"You froze up in fear," Patton reminded him. "That's not something you can control."
"It's something I need to learn to control. I need to prepare to face a situation like that again, I can't allow myself to hesitate for one second."
"You should take a break," Roman suggested.
Virgil shrugged his hands off of himself, shaking his head. "I want to go again. I won't freeze up next time, I'll be ready for it."
YOU ARE READING
The Borrower and the Fairy Prince
Fanfiction*Completed* Virgil has never had it easy, not since he was kicked out of his home by his own father. He's struggled to survive, and has fought for food. He sees what should have been an easy meal, some berries on a tree hanging over the river. It sh...
